


Festering Anger

by Hellokaelyn



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, just cause the episode wont come even close to any of this, unrealistic idea for 16x18
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-27 09:31:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18192824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellokaelyn/pseuds/Hellokaelyn
Summary: A revenge plan is put into place with a surprising connection.





	Festering Anger

**Author's Note:**

> For the Anon on Tumblr who requested it.
> 
> This is NOT a prediction for the episode like I planned to write, it's just a little idea.

From 8pm onward Nick couldn’t remember a thing. 

All he knew was he went out with a friend to a club, and next thing he recalls is that morning when he woke up on the boat, covered in blood. That whole twelve hours between was a complete blur.

After figuring out Nick really couldn’t remember anything, they jumped into action. Kasie took samples of the blood to test along with some of Nick’s blood to check for any lingering traces of anything, Nick washed off and Jimmy checked him over as he refused to see a doctor, they checked camera’s only to come up empty, interviewed people from the club with no luck as it was a busy night, interviewed Nick’s friend Derek who said the last time he seen Nick he had walked off with some girl.

Which didn’t help in Nick’s case when the blood came back to 21 year old Cora Marsh who was in the system for prostitution..and whose body had just been found by Metro. Derek confirmed it was the girl he had last seen with Nick. 

Metro had somehow got wind of it and wanted to arrest Nick for her murder, but thankfully the detective assigned to the case was a friend of McGee’s who reluctantly gave them a deal. They would wait to arrest Nick while working the case to see if anything else was found only if Nick would stay at NCIS with someone watching him the whole time, but if not, Nick would be charged with Cora’s murder.

“We work this case like any other.” Gibbs had said. “But we also work it both ways, as if Nick is the murderer and that someone else killed her.”

While she knew Gibbs was right, the words ‘Nick is the murderer’ put together set her on edge and made her want to jump to his defense even when there was no need to defend him from Gibbs. 

Ellie was finally able to breathe a little better, her chest not feeling so tight when she walked into the conference room where Nick was being kept. She walked in and nodded to the cop standing in the room, they didn’t look happy about it but left to stand outside the door. 

It was her first time seeing Nick since Metro went to put him in handcuffs. 

“Ellie!” He jumped from his seat, she didn’t even need to think about it as she walked over to him. They wrapped their arms around each other holding on tightly.

“We’ll figure out who killed her, I promise Nick.” She whispered. “None of us think you did this.”

His hold on her tightened more before he let go, sitting back down in the chair. Ellie sat beside him, grabbing his hands in hers.

“Ellie..”

“Don’t you  _ dare _ say it.” She said sternly. 

“It has to be said Ellie.” Nick’s voice had a bit of bitterness to it that made her stomach churn. “What if- what if I  _ did _ kill her?” He whispered.

“You didn't.” She whispered back, her voice leaving no room for doubt. 

“How do you know that?” Nick sighed, lowering his head for a second before looking back at her. “I know what i’m capable of Ellie.”

Ellie shook her head, squeezing his hands. “And I know  _ you _ .”

“And if I did hurt her?” His voice broke, the fear showing in his eyes.

Ellie swallowed the lump in her throat. “Then you had a good reason, but it won’t change what I think of you Nick, you’ll still be my best friend.”

Nick breathed in deeply, letting it out slowly. “Did you figure out who the boat belonged to? I mean someone had to own it at some point right?”

“We’re trying.” She sighed. “We have a name but no one with the name exists.”

“What’s the name?”

“Brody Vaughn.” 

“Brody Vaughn..” Nick mumbled to himself.

Ellie watched closely as things seemed to turn in his brain until recognition formed on his face.

“What is it? Do you know who that is?”

“There uh-” He looked at her confused. “In high school there was this story about a past student named Brody Vaughn that was supposedly murdered in the locker room and there were rumors that he haunted the school at night. I remember ‘cause my friends dragged me along one night to break into school to see if it was true, nothing actually happened except I remember it being..really cold, like almost negative degrees cold which makes no sense, it was a month before our summer vacation.”

Ellie perked up. “Wait- you went to high school with Derek didn’t you?”

“Yeah wha-” Nick’s eyes widened. “And he was part of that group.”

“We need to talk to him again!” Ellie jumped up from her seat, Nick doing the same.

“Why would Derek-” He began saying but stopped. “He’s been my friend since we were fifteen..why would he be a part of this?”

“I don’t know Nick.” She whispered. “Just sit tight okay? We’re getting you out of this mess.”

* * *

Ellie sat next to Gibbs in the interrogation room wanting nothing more than to jump across the table and give Derek a good punch. Gibbs kept quiet, letting her ask the questions. She had no doubt Vance, Jack, and McGee were behind the glass watching too.

“You and Nick have been friends for what..twenty years?”

Derek nodded. “About that long, yeah. I mean we went long periods without talking, but we always met up for drinks or something eventually.”

“So you can say you know Nick really well?”

“Well yeah, of course.”

“And last night with him just walking off with a girl who looked like she could be around his nieces age, didn’t seem weird to you?”

Derek shifted in his seat a little making her and Gibbs’ eyes narrow a little. “I assumed he knew her.”

Ellie made a ‘hmm’ noise. “Does the name Brody Vaughn mean anything to you?”

“N-No, why should it?”

“Really? Brody Vaughn..the kid that supposedly died in your high school, the one you went ‘ghost hunting’ for one night?”

Derek cleared his throat. “O-Okay so it sounds familiar.”

“That’s what I thought.” She stared him down, making him shift in his seat again as his eyes went from her to Gibbs who was glaring.

She opened the folder in front of her and took out pictures of the boat, placing them in front of him. “This boat was owned by a Brody Vaughn.”

“So?”

“So..it’s the same boat Nick was found on this morning, so we did some digging once we connected you to the name.”

Derek’s eyes snapped to hers. 

“There’s no one with the name Brody..but there  _ is  _ a Derek Vaughn.”

He started getting a panicked look on his face, and all Ellie had to do was wait a few more seconds before he broke. She had to try hard not to grin.

“Okay so I was born Derek Vaughn!” He shouted. “Brody’s name was really Brady and he was my older brother, after he died which  _ was _ at the high school during his freshman year, my mom became paranoid and freaked out changing our last names, I was one of the invisible outcast kids so no one seemed to realize a thing, I convinced my mom to let me go to the same school where I of course met Nick-”

“That’s great and all but, what does  _ any _ of this have to do with you trying to frame Nick for murder?” Ellie snapped out.

Right before their eyes Derek’s eyes darkened, a cold look crossing his face as a smirk formed on his lips. It was like he became someone else right in front of them.

He chuckled, the sound sending a chill down Ellie’s spine making her straighten up in her seat. “You ever meet Nick’s sister?”

“Yes, I have.”

“Seems nice, huh? Yeah well she use to be a bitch in high school.”

“She went to school with Brady.” 

“Yes. And she  _ let _ him get killed!”

Ellie narrowed her eyes. “How did she let him get killed?”

“The group of guys she hung out with were bullying him, they were even threatening him with a knife and she just WALKED AWAY!” He yelled, his face red from anger. “When he was found she kept her mouth shut like a coward and moved on with her life like nothing happened!”

“So you decided to get revenge for your brother by going after Lucia’s brother.”

“That’s right.” Derek spat out. “I didn’t count on him actually remembering the damn name, didn’t think he’d remember a  _ little detail _ from so long ago.”

“And Cora Marsh?” 

Derek laughed, but there was no humor just coldness. “Just some whore I paid a decent amount of money. Her job was to give Nick some shit lie about needing help and I knew his white knight bullshit would kick in thinking of her as harmless, I had already slipped something in his drink beforehand so when they got to her car he was already feeling the affects of it. I followed and once he knocked out I got him into her backseat, Cora came with me to the boat and started running her pretty little mouth freaked out-” He smirked. “-It only made my plan to kill her that much easier. What better revenge then not only getting him arrested making Lucia lose her brother, but to make her poor brother go crazy with guilt?”

Ellie felt her blood boil right before she snapped, jumping up she barely registered her quick action of landing a punch to Derek’s face. 

“Bishop!” Gibbs shouted, grabbing onto her as the door opened to reveal McGee and Jack, ready to step in if needed. 

Derek groaned and grabbed his jaw, wincing at the pain. 

“I hope you go to hell.” She said through clenched teeth, shoving Gibbs off her as she stormed out of the room.

* * *

It was around two in the morning and Ellie laid on Nick’s bed beside him. After everything was over, she had drove Nick to his apartment but refused to leave him and so as Nick showered and finally got a good sleep, Ellie borrowed some of his clothes and settled beside him on the bed taking a short nap herself.

But now they were both wide awake, laying on their sides facing each other.

“I talked to Lucia before you came to drive me home.” He mumbled.

Ellie sat up a little on her elbow. “Really? What did she say? Was there any truth to what Derek said?”

“Partly. I know myself she wasn’t the nicest person during high school and she did hang out with these guys who were nothing but bullies.”

“So what really happened?” 

“Lucia knew they were bullying him, and she did walk away while they were there one day after school but she knew nothing about a knife. They apparently never did anything more but shove people into lockers, which in itself is a shitty thing to do, but that means she didn’t expect it. When he was found dead, they threatened her.”

Ellie sighed. “And she was what..sixteen? Not surprising then that she decided not to say anything..”

Nick nodded. “I remember her changing.”

“What do you mean.”

“She became closed off..locked herself in her room a lot, for a long time she rarely went out anywhere unless she had to. When she decided to join the Navy it was like she slowly started turning back into the old Lucia except a nicer version.”

“She was scared.” Ellie whispered. 

“Yeah..yeah she was.” Nick shook his head. “I feel like such an idiot..all this time Derek had just been what..biding his time? I really considered him a friend but now..”

Ellie gave his arm a comforting rub. “I’m sorry Nick, he must have had..a lot of built up anger especially considering it had years to just build.”

“I’m- let’s not talk about this anymore.”

Ellie nodded in agreement. “Sure.”

They laid in silence for a few minutes until Nick broke it.

“So uh..McGee told me you punched Derek in the face.”

She groaned. “I couldn’t help it!”

Nick chuckled. “Hey, I like badass Ellie!”

Ellie rolled her eyes with a little laugh. “You’re ridiculous.” 

“Eh.” He shrugged the shoulder he wasn’t lying on. “You love me for it.”

She felt her cheeks turn pink, biting her lip a little as she looked at him. A smile formed on his lips when she didn’t deny it or have a comeback comment like she usually would.

“That’s okay.” He murmured. Suddenly he grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him, her mouth hanging open a little in surprise at the action. “I could say the same about a lot of things when it comes to you.”

Her cheeks heated more, her heart racing. “Nick-” She said softly, her voice sounding a little breathless.

Nick licked his lips glancing at her’s for a second. “Just tell me to stop if I’m wrong Ellie.”

She didn’t say a word as his lips touched her’s. 

For both of them the events of the last day seemed to disappear while they became wrapped in each other. Their only focus being the other. 


End file.
